Running a Food Stall to Support My Deceptive Omega - Chapter 29.1

The azure sky was high and wide, dotted with drifting white clouds, and the sun hung high. The warm sunlight rested among the rooftops, leaves, and blades of grass.

The scenery was radiant and beautiful.

Looking at the items in the courtyard, Mu Jinyu’s wide eyes were filled with total confusion.

She closed the door, paused for two breaths, and opened it again!

The courtyard remained exactly the same.

What was going on?

She was in her own home when she fell asleep, and she had changed places after waking up?

Mu Jinyu walked hesitantly into the yard and happened to see the little colorful raccoon cat wriggling behind a small stool by the stone table, holding something.

It was making the fierce sounds it usually made when catching prey.

Mu Jinyu poked her head over and found the little raccoon cat clutching a golden-headed, golden-tailed fish as big as itself, gnawing away.

The fish had been mostly eaten; the flesh was long gone, leaving only an intact spine and two rows of attached ribs.

A golden fish?

Mu Jinyu was momentarily dazed, wondering how the little raccoon cat had managed to catch a goldfish from the small river on Night Market Street.

Then, she looked at the extra things in her courtyard.

Originally, her yard was large. Even with the things she used for her stall—such as pots, pans, small tables, and stools—it didn’t feel crowded.

But now, it was so packed she didn’t even have a place to step.

She stood amidst countless tables and stools, feeling bewildered.

Why were there so many extra tables and stools in her house?

Mu Jinyu picked up a small stool at random and looked closely.

She realized—wasn’t this hers?

Specifically, the kind that had been stolen before.

Her expression sharpened as she realized what was happening, and she began checking every table and stool.

She confirmed it: these were all the tables and stools she had previously lost to theft.

What happened? Were these returned? Or did they truly appear out of thin air in her yard?

Regardless of how it happened, a vengeful smile appeared on Mu Jinyu’s face.

Hmph, so what if that stall owner wouldn’t return them?

In the end, these items still found their way back to her.

Mu Jinyu began arranging the tables and stools properly, planning to go and see the expression on the face of the stall owner who stole them tonight.

Let’s see if that person can still laugh!

Mu Jinyu didn’t rush to make breakfast. After washing up, she boiled a pot of water, took a rag, and happily began wiping down the small tables and stools.

The tables aside—she had bought those with her own money.

But those small stools had been used by her mothers when they were alive; they were still sturdy and durable, and it had been a true pity to have them stolen.

Fortunately, they were back in her hands now.

While she was busy in the yard, Rong Heng, who was sleeping soundly on the bed, woke up with a start. Half-awake, she sensed no one was beside her and sat up abruptly.

Rong Heng lowered her head, her eyes half-squinted and barely able to open. There was a noticeable dark circle under her eyes, and her expression was gloomy and slightly fearful.

She stayed on the bed for a long while before tiptoeing down and going to the door, peeking out from the frame.

Seeing that Mu Jinyu had already discovered the tables and stools, a trace of panic flickered across her face.

She hurried to Mu Jinyu’s side, and her first words were, “I won’t apologize.”

Mu Jinyu, who was happily wiping the furniture, looked up at her. Her eyes were slightly squinted against the high sun, so she could only shake the water off her hands and shield her brow.

She asked, “What?”

Rong Heng opened her mouth and then closed it. Only then did she faintly realize that Mu Jinyu didn’t know she was the one who had stolen the tables and stools back.

But the look in her eyes grew even more panicked.

She had already let it slip.

How could she prevent Mu Jinyu from finding out?

Rong Heng took a step back, wanting to leave as if nothing had happened.

That way, Mu Jinyu wouldn’t press her, right?

But before she could take two steps, Mu Jinyu asked strangely again, “What do you mean you won’t apologize?”

After asking, she lowered her head and continued wiping the stool in her hand.

As she wiped, she suddenly felt something was wrong. She looked up sharply and stared at Rong Heng again.

Apologize?

What had Rong Heng done that required an apology?

She looked at the furniture in her hands.

Could it be… that the tables and stools were brought back by Rong Heng?

Seeing that she couldn’t hide it anymore, Rong Heng’s expression became even more depressed. Her eyelids drooped as she dejectedly squatted beside Mu Jinyu, poking a tiny green sprout that had finally struggled out of the mud.

She said again, “I won’t apologize.”

“Speak clearly. What did you do?” Mu Jinyu put down everything in her hands and looked seriously at the person beside her.

She had to know what had happened. If it was a small matter, it would be easy to solve; if it was a big matter, it would be troublesome.

“The tables and stools—I stole them back.” Rong Heng turned her back, not wanting to look at Mu Jinyu at all.

She knew stealing was wrong, but she couldn’t stand seeing Mu Jinyu upset over the stolen furniture and refusing to talk to her.

She couldn’t bear it.

They were bullying Mu Jinyu.

Thinking of this, Rong Heng wrinkled her nose and glared at the little sprout in her hand.

Hearing Rong Heng say she had stolen the items back, Mu Jinyu felt a momentary surge of panic.

Stealing was wrong; what others did was their business, but they shouldn’t do the same.

But then she immediately realized: these items belonged to her in the first place. She had been worrying about how to get them back, and Rong Heng helping her retrieve them was just returning things to their original owner.

How could that be called stealing?

Besides, that stall owner had never bought these tables and stools, so how could they have been “stolen” from him?

They were clearly her tables and stools, which had been kept safely at home and had never been “lost.”

Therefore, even if that stall owner wanted to come and find trouble with her, he had no grounds.

Thinking this way, Mu Jinyu felt that Rong Heng’s action was simply perfect; it solved the problem directly.

If she had thought of this method, she would have done it herself and wouldn’t have let Rong Heng take the risk.

“Don’t worry, I won’t make you apologize.” Seeing that Rong Heng was truly worried, Mu Jinyu boldly reached out and rubbed her head back and forth.

“If they hadn’t stolen my things first, we wouldn’t have ‘stolen’ theirs.”

“The ones who should apologize aren’t us; it’s them.”

The two of them had been living their lives quietly, being friendly and never picking fights.

If someone hadn’t intentionally bullied her, Rong Heng wouldn’t have done this.

So, it was the stall owner who should apologize for forcing Rong Heng to take the items back.

“Why should the victim apologize to the person who hurt them?”

“Besides, you didn’t steal anything; you just took back what originally belonged to us.”

After mussing Rong Heng’s hair, Mu Jinyu tidied it back up for her.

“Alright, alright, go wash up. I’ll make some food for you.”

She pulled Rong Heng up from the ground and led her to the stove, pouring warm water into a basin.

“Is that so… I don’t need to apologize…?”

Following Mu Jinyu’s lead, Rong Heng put the washcloth into the water, rubbed it a few times, and wrung it out. She still asked with some uncertainty.

“Right. I’m not some unreasonable person.”

Mu Jinyu, who was pouring water into a pot, thought for a moment: had she scared Rong Heng by making her apologize before?

Was that why the girl was so fixated on the act of apologizing?

She chose her words carefully and explained, “When I asked you to apologize before, I didn’t mean to force you.”

“You meant well for me, but if you hurt me in the process, then it isn’t truly ‘good for me’.”

“But this matter is different. They were the ones in the wrong first. They didn’t even get punished; they just lost things that didn’t belong to them anyway.”

“So you don’t need to apologize.”

As she spoke, Mu Jinyu clearly saw Rong Heng’s gaze turn blank—a sure sign she didn’t understand what was being said.

She could only shake her head. “It’s fine. You’ll understand later.”

Once Rong Heng regained her memory, she would surely have her own logic; there was no need for Mu Jinyu to lecture her so much.

“Go on, wipe your face. The water is getting cold.”

“Mm.”

Rong Heng blankly lifted the cloth.

The warm, damp sensation covered her face, and the heat slowly seeped into her skin like a gentle hand stroking her.

Her guilty, panicked heart gradually calmed down.

So she hadn’t done anything wrong; she didn’t need to apologize.

After filling the pot halfway with water, Mu Jinyu first tucked two sweet potatoes into the stove.

Then she put all the mutton she had bought into the pot and poured in all the remaining jarred wine.

She used a low flame to slowly blanch the mutton to remove the gamey smell.

As the water temperature rose, the bloodiness in the mutton turned into foam floating on the surface. She used a spoon to skim the foam clean, and once the water boiled, she fished out the mutton and put it into a basin.

She continued to pour hot water into the basin to wash it thoroughly.

Blanched mutton not only has its gamey smell removed, but its texture also becomes firm, preventing it from becoming dry or getting stuck in the teeth.

She added oil to the pot, and once the oil was hot, she could toss all the prepared mutton into the pot and stir-fry it over high heat.

The boiled mutton, once it hit the high-temperature oil, shrank slightly and turned golden brown on all sides—one look was enough to know the texture would be excellent.

Then she added star anise, cinnamon, bay leaves, fennel, and other spices into the pot, along with crushed dogwood (for spice) and sliced ginger, stir-frying them together with the mutton.

Fennel looks similar to cumin; both look like little grains of rice.

However, fennel has a greenish-yellow exterior and is plumper, with vertical ridges on its body. Cumin is darker in color, leaning towards grayish-brown, is drier and flatter, and its ridges are more disordered.

The scent of fennel is sweet and light, smelling very gentle with a slight hint of citrus sweetness.

It needs to be stewed in soup for a long time to fully release its flavor.

Cumin has a very strong, pungent scent, with a smoky, roasted quality that hits the nostrils directly. Its taste is spicy without a hint of sweetness, making it most suitable for barbecues.

Intense heat and direct fire can make its flavor explode, stimulating the tongue and throat.

Although the two spices look similar, their tastes differ greatly. Therefore, even when cooking meat from the same sheep, if the cooking method differs, the spices used must also differ.

Besides the slight similarity between cumin and fennel, star anise and fennel also share some traits.

Star anise is also known as “star anise fennel” or “large fennel.” It looks like an eight-pointed star and is mostly dark brown or reddish-brown.

Its flavor is intense and aromatic.

It has a bit more spiciness than fennel and a bit more sweetness than cumin.

It is also a master ingredient for stewing, able to remove gaminess and enhance aroma, making the meat flavor richer.

However, despite these three spices having slight similarities in taste or appearance, they have no botanical relationship and do not share the same roots.

The aroma of the spices was fried out by the high-heat oil, billowing upward with the rising white smoke. Mu Jinyu took a sniff and let out a sigh of admiration.

It was simply too fragrant, making her mouth water.

Her spatula danced continuously. Once the fragrance and spiciness were fully released, she added salt, soy sauce, sugar, and other seasonings to flavor and color the mutton.

She added boiled water, just enough to cover the mutton.

Covering the pot, she waited for the mutton to be stewed until it was soft and flavorful—to the point where it would melt with a single press of the tongue. Mu Jinyu then took out two large white radishes and cut them into chunks on the cutting board.

The mutton needed to boil in the pot for at least three-quarters of an hour before the radishes could be added.

So while waiting, she pulled out the sweet potatoes that had been roasting by the stove mouth and ate them with Rong Heng, both of them huffing and puffing from the heat.

After filling their stomachs slightly, she continued to sit in the courtyard wiping the tables and stools.

Rong Heng wasn’t idle either. She sat by the stone table. On the table was the cutting board, and below the table were two large basins.

One basin contained prepared fish meat, while the other was used to hold fish paste.

She had been assigned by Mu Jinyu to mince all this fish meat into paste.

Sitting while mincing was easier than standing and less tiring.

Rong Heng minced while watching Mu Jinyu wipe the furniture.

After the furniture was wiped, Mu Jinyu began washing the various pots, bowls, and plates left over from the night before.

The two were busy until half an hour later when Mu Jinyu added the large white radish chunks into the pot to continue stewing.

White radishes become soft and tender very easily, so they wouldn’t take long—fifteen minutes at most before the fire needed to be turned off.

She went to Rong Heng’s side and told her to stop mincing the fish, helping her tidy up the things on the stone table. They would be able to eat soon.

In the past, the little colorful raccoon cat would have been running back and forth around them, but today it sat primly on one of the many stools.

It licked its paws while watching them, a purring sound coming from its throat.

“You’re lucky; you ate your fill early.” Seeing how leisurely the little raccoon cat was, Mu Jinyu tapped its nose and then asked Rong Heng, “Was it you who gave it that goldfish?”

Rong Heng, who was standing by the stove curiously watching the water in the pot bubbling and reducing, looked up.

She nodded.

At this, Mu Jinyu scratched her forehead.

Truth be told, Rong Heng was actually quite impressive.

Not only could she run out at night and bring back all the furniture, but she could also catch a fish from the river for the little raccoon cat.

Hiss… which meant the courtyard gate could no longer restrain Rong Heng?

If it were before, Mu Jinyu would have had a headache, but now that she didn’t need to keep Rong Heng confined, she didn’t take the matter to heart.

Regardless, Rong Heng would leave sooner or later; she wouldn’t be entangled with her in this tiny world forever.

As she thought this, her heart suddenly felt empty for a moment…

Mu Jinyu shook her head and went to the stove. She poked around the pot with the spatula, and after confirming the radishes were cooked through, she extinguished the fire in the stove.

The braised mutton was all scooped into a basin.

The mutton and radishes had all been stewed to a brownish-red color. A spicy scent mixed with a hint of sweetness wafted out, following her steps as she carried the basin to the stone table.

The fragrance spread slowly, filling the entire courtyard.

The aroma was so tempting that neither could help themselves; they picked up their chopsticks and began eating the meat.

The mutton had long been stewed to a soft, tender state. Upon entering the mouth, a single press caused it to fall apart, releasing even more heat and fragrance.

The impatient pair were unkindly burnt; their mouths hung open for a good while before they could swallow the soft, flavorful mutton.

The spicy and sweet mutton went down their throats, warming their stomachs—hot, fragrant, and incredibly enticing.